Closed session vexes Scheer

Lolita Harper

City officials are being tight-lipped about a late-night closed

door meeting Wednesday to consider the dismissal of a city employee.

City officials would not confirm or deny that the special meeting

was the result of a performance review for City Atty. Jerry Scheer,

but Scheer’s attorney suggested it was.

Greg Petersen, a private attorney hired to represent Scheer when

he was first placed on administrative leave, also criticized the

council’s insistence on continually dragging his client’s name

through the mud.

L.A. attorney Peter Brown, who was hired as outside counsel to

advise the council, stressed that city leaders are taking steps to

avoid the humiliation Petersen is alleging.

State open-meeting laws allow city leaders to meet in private when

the subject matter is sensitive and confidential, Brown said. The

City Council is not required to announce which public employee it is

considering releasing because it could stigmatize that person, Brown

said.

“My understanding is that the reason for this is so that whoever

the legislative body is discussing is not subject to embarrassment or

ridicule,” Brown said. “It is to maintain confidentiality.”

The closed-door session included the City Council -- except

Councilman Gary Monahan, who could not make the last-minute meeting

-- City Manager Allan Roeder, Director of Administrative Services

Steve Hayman, Personnel Manager Howard Perkins and Brown.

Nobody would comment on the content of the session nor explain why

a termination was even being considered.

The council voted on Oct. 4 to reinstate Scheer.

Wednesday’s meeting marks the fifth closed session in the past two

months since Scheer’s initial removal on Sept. 9. It was then that

the council voted unanimously to place Scheer and Assistant City

Atty. Tom Woods on paid administrative leave after a general employee

performance evaluation.

During that same session, council members also voted to halt all

business with an outside legal firm, audit the city attorney’s office

and set up a subcommittee to further review the performance of the

city’s top two attorneys.

A week later, a unanimous council vote reinstated Wood.

Council members continued to hold closed sessions about the

remaining legal issues. State law mandates local leaders invite the

public to special proceedings, open the meeting in a public forum and

then adjourn to “closed session,” in which council members discuss

sensitive topics among themselves. Any actions taken by the council

as a result of the private deliberations are then reported back in an

open forum.

During the public comment portion of a Sept. 30 meeting, Petersen

alleged a laundry list of wrongdoings by the city and threatened

legal action.

Petersen said the stigma and stress of being placed on leave had

caused his client to suffer serious health complications and that

63-year-old Scheer was at home under heavy medication. Petersen also

said City Council members were trying to persuade Scheer to retire.

On Friday, Oct. 4, the council voted 3 to 2 to reinstate Scheer,

with Monahan and Councilwoman Karen Robinson dissenting. Scheer was

back at work Monday, Oct. 7.

Sources close to City Hall said Scheer returned to the office,

where he conducted the city’s business from behind closed doors.

Calls to Scheer at the City Attorney’s Office were not returned.

Calls to Petersen on Thursday also went unanswered.

Scheer has been with the city attorney’s office for almost 16

years, providing legal services to the City Council, the Planning

Commission, the Costa Mesa Redevelopment Agency and city departments.

Scheer and Woods provide legal counsel and advice during all

official meetings and study sessions, and are responsible for the

preparation of ordinances, resolutions, contracts and agreements,

officials said. Counsel also interprets and applies local, state and

federal laws, and conducts and monitors litigation.

Planning Commissioner Eleanor Egan, who worked with Scheer during

her previous employment in the city attorney’s office, said she has

always known him to be a man of honesty and integrity. Egan said she

was anxious for a resolution.

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at [email protected].